One VA college most “brave” in the South for support of LGBTQ students

The Advocate has released a list of the most supportive southern college campuses for LGBT students, and one Virginia school made the list.

Based on how much support the campus offers, what options students have to organize around sexuality issues, and inclusive policies, programs, and practices, the University of Richmond was acknowledged for their contributions.

Here’s what the national LGBTQ publication had to say about U of R:

While Virginia has not necessarily been the most LGBT-friendly place, this campus has been a “brave” beacon for LGBT advocacy in the state for decades. The University of Richmond’s work to become an LGBTQ-inclusive campus began in the 1990s, when sexual orientation was added to its nondiscrimination policy and the school launched its Safe Zone initiative. Since then, the university has implemented same-sex domestic partner benefits for full-time faculty and staff members, added gender identity and expression to its nondiscrimination policy, received four stars on the Campus Pride Index, hired an associate director of LGBTQ life, and started hosting Lavender Graduations, among many other things. The University of Richmond is one of 29 Southern schools with a Campus Pride Index rating of four stars or higher.

In early February the university teamed up with Campus Pride to host the first-ever Campus Pride College Sports Summit. The summit was a two-day event that featured Sue Rankin, Kye Allums, Wade Davis, and even a world premiere screening of The Rugby Player. The event was focused on research findings from the Campus Pride report, LGBTQ student athlete experiences, training resources, and recommended best practices to prevent harassment in college sports. The event reached more than 100 coaches, staff, and student athletes.

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